(upbeat music) - Every family has a
special recipe passed down from generation to generation, and nobody makes
it quite like Mama. - I'm coming for her. I'm
coming to take her title. - [Terrell] Today, one
challenger is cooking a cherished family recipe
to see how their version stacks up against the original. - And the judges are their
closest family members and friends who know
better than anyone why Mama's is so good. - She got it from her Mama! - Goodness. We're gonna be
here all day with that garlic. - How we messing up
the first five minutes of the doggone thing? - Get to cutting. - Oh gosh. - He's gonna burn them. - Can these contestants
pull it off? Or will Mama's beloved
dish reign supreme? - He opened it. - [Spectators] Wow. (contestants laughing) - Oh! This is "Not Like Mama." (thoughtful music) Today on "Not Like
Mama," we are cooking up some mac and cheese. Terrell, you know,
hosting this show with you has been such a pleasure, but we must reveal that
the first time we met, we actually cooked together. - Ooh.
- Do you remember the classic and fantastic
dish we made? - Tia, of course I remember.
How could I forget? It was mac and cheese. - Yes, that's right. You know, it bonded
us then, just like it has bonded countless other friends and families before,
including the Pratts. - Let's be clear. Just anybody can't bring
the macaroni and cheese to the cookout, to the holiday,
if it ain't cooked right. If you're cooking the
macaroni and cheese, you have to do it a certain way. - Mama Itali is pretty much
world-famous at this point for her take on mac and cheese, even though she shockingly
admits it's not that hard. - I actually stole my recipe from my ex-husband. It was his mom's. I'm glad that everyone loves
my macaroni and cheese, but it's just
noodles and cheese. - Well, if that's the case, why on Earth doesn't
anyone in the Pratt family believe that her beloved and
brilliant daughter Keyana can pull it off? - Keyana don't cook. Like Keyana just don't cook. Like she just don't cook. - After living with both
of them for so long, I just think there's
no way that my sister can make better mac
and cheese than my mom. It just sounds crazy. - As simple as it may
seem, there's only one ingredient that cannot
be replicated or duplicated. Only originated. And that is love. - Hm. - And Keyana's got plenty to
bring into the kitchen today. - Everyone in my family
thinks my mom is going to win. I'm not too hurt about it
just because it is, you know. You can't beat the
Queen's recipe. She cooks it with so much love
and it tastes even better. - Does Keyana have what it takes to prove the disbelievers wrong? Let's get into the
kitchen and find out. (pages flipping) (Keyana laughs)
- Welcome to the kitchen guys. Now Mom, we're gonna
taste your mac and cheese a little bit later, but first, we're gonna start off
with yours, Keyana. - [Keyana] Yes. - I mean, it looks
like we have some hot water going right now. - Yes. Yes. - Boiling.
- It's boiling. So a little birdie
told me that no one, and when I say no one,
believes that you can pull this off and make the
mac and cheese like your mama. - Yeah.
- Is that true? - I don't think you can pull
off macaroni and cheese. Period. (DJ laughs) - How do you feel about that? That nobody believes in you. (Tia and Keyana laugh) - There wasn't a
lot of confidence. - I know! That's terrible! Especially coming from family. - I know. It is a bit
disappointing, you know, but, what I will say, I'm not
the main cook in the family. Obviously that
goes to my mother. (Keyana laughs)
- Hey, listen, if nobody believes in
you, I'm gonna tell you that Terrell and myself,
(Keyana laughs) we believe in you.
- Thank you. - And you can do this!
- Thank you. Thank you.
- I believe in you. - [Tia] What? - We believe. But. (others laugh) Mac and cheese, as we all know, is the one dish you can't mess
up at the family function. - That is true. - So Mom.
- That is very true. - Imma go ahead and take you on outta here-
- All right. - And go to the
observation room- - All right.
- So we can let Keyana get to cookin', okay? She needs all the time-
- Yes. - We can give her. So Mom, come follow me. - Keyana talking about she not
the main cook in the family. Keyana's not a cook in the
family at all. (laughs) - Really. - The Queen has
entered the room. Let's see if she can do this. - Let's see. - All right, so you ready
to get this party started? - I'm excited. - What is the first step? - So, we actually are
gonna spend a lot of time grating the cheese today. - Okay. - We have lots of
cheese to cut up. - Lots of cheese to grate.
- You gotta have cheese with the macaroni and cheese. - Of course. Now, you only have 90 minutes. Okay?
- Okay. - You got this?
- I got it. That's easy.
- All right. Let's go. Good luck! - Let's get it. Thank you.
- Bye! - I'm looking, I
can believe like, she got her own cooking show. - Let the games begin. (pages flipping) - Okay, so first
we're gonna wanna turn on the oven to 350. And then I'm going
to head over here and grab the cheese
so we can start grating all of this cheese. - I know my wife. Keyana's gonna grate
that, all that cheese and put every single
bit of it in the thing. - I'm not too concerned
about the time for grating this cheese. This is a lot of cheese. So we have some Colby Jack, we have some creamy
cheddar cheese. We have Muenster,
which is very special. This is my mom's secret recipe. (Itali laughing) - And you just told
the whole world. - We have some mozzarella here, which is gonna help kind of
keep the cheese together. And then we have your
traditional cheddar cheese. So I'm going to grab the
grater, grab my mixing bowl. And let's start with the classic
traditional cheddar cheese. - You gotta put the
noodles on, babies. - Oh yeah! How, Keyana, the noodles! - Girl, you can't- - How we messing up
the first five minutes of the doggone thing?
(Itali laughing) You have to start with what's
gonna take the longest. Right now what's
gonna take the longest is gonna be those noodles. - And you're gonna wanna
make sure you shred the whole block of cheese
with this particular one, because you can never
have too much cheese. (Itali laughs)
- I agree, baby. - No, that's right, though- - She got that from me. You
can't have too much cheese. - Ain't no such thing.
- Yes you can. - Not to me.
- Yes you can. - Not to me. - Now here's the hard part. When it gets down to the bottom- - You don't need it.
- Let it go! Let it go! You don't need every piece of- - You don't need
every piece of cheese. (Itali laughs)
- It's like, what do you do with
this little piece? - Let it go. - I think my husband
is in the back. Like if she did not hurry
up and shed the cheese. - No, your husband is
saying put on the noodles. - So I'm gonna add in this
chicken bouillon seasoning. And again, this is gonna help
to add flavor to the noodles. - That is not my recipe. Let it be known,
y'all doing too much. Don't nobody want
no chicken broth in no macaroni and cheese. - It's for the flavor
of the noodles! - Okay. (jar rattling) - Then you're gonna wanna
watch it come to a boil. You're gonna cook it al dente. So about 10 to like 15 minutes. You don't want it to be
overcooked 'cause you're gonna continue to cook it
while it's in the oven. So we're just gonna cook it
for like 10 minutes or so. - Stir it. Stir it. Don't let it stick.
Don't let it stick. - [Itali] Ooh.
- Oh my God. Stir it! That's gonna be one big
old block of noodle. (Itali and Elie laughing) - No, no, no, no... - It is very easy to
overcook these noodles. And I actually have
done it recently. You definitely have to
keep a good eye on it. And you wanna make sure you stay in the kitchen as well
to watch them. (laughs) - You're gonna tell my
baby to stir them noodles. Baby, you ain't about
to have no noodles. - I know.
- Ohh. - Oh, Keyana! Stir the noodles. Feel it.
- Remember! - Stir the noodles. - Remember! - Feel it. (upbeat music) Stir the noodles. Feel it.
- Remember! - Stir the noodles. - Remember! - Feel it. Baby, you ain't about
have no noodles. - And also, before I forget, I'm gonna wanna
stir these noodles. (family members cheering)
- Hey! Come on! Stir the noodles! - Come on! (laughing) - That's it! Stir the noodles! And, hey look, she
sees it's chunking. Look at her.
(hand slapping) - Look at her, like smiling,
she knows what's up. - People just traditionally
do the traditional cheddar, the traditional Colby Jack-
- Girl, give me this cheese. You've been shredding
this cheese- - Yes, thank you.
- For 20 minutes. - Here. (laughs)
- You need some help? - I need some help.
- Cut up this Velveeta while I
shred this cheese. (Keyana laughing) Jeez. - Thank you. - We're gonna be here all day. (mysterious music) Now before I go, I got a
little surprise for you. - Oh, I don't do surprises in the kitchen.
- You know how I do. You thought we were
gonna come in here and just cook-
- I did. - And just go home?
- I did. (laughs) - No! It's a show! Okay? Look here. So. I got two tins here, and in
both tins is a little twist. - Okay.
- And you get to choose. One twist is terrible. - Okay. (giggles)
- The other one is worse. So you decide which
poison you'd like to take. - Oh Lord. Okay, I'm
going to go with this one. - Terrible idea. Okay, let's go. Let's see what twists
we have for you today. Now, Keyana, it seems
like your entire family is betting against you. Let's mix it up. I'm offering you the
option of incorporating one of these three
fancy cheeses. - I hope it ain't
no stinky cheese. - Do not do no Brie. - If you choose to reject
my sumptuous cheese shred, Imma take 10 minutes
off your cooking time. - Girl.
- Reject it. I ain't gonna lie. Forget it. - Don't add not
another lick of cheese. - You either add one of these
cheeses into your mother's signature mac and cheese-
- Okay. - That you said that the
cheeses should never change. - Okay.
- Or I take 10 minutes away. - This is gonna make
it real Caucasian. - So first up, Gruyère
over here, right? Take a little
sample while I read. Gruyère's a... I don't think she likes
the Gruyère, y'all. (Keyana laughing) What's that? French? - Yeah, that's not it. (laughs) - No, no. No oui oui in here. - I kinda wanna, you know,
get it out of my mouth. - Oh my. Okay, let
read the next one. Maybe Fontina's better. Here we go. It can be used in any recipe
where a smooth, melty cheese is desired, like fondue,
cheese dip, or cheese sauces. That's hitting a
little better for you. - It is better. - Okay, so you're a fondue girl. - Yes.
- All right, cool. That might be the one.
- That's better. - Now Brie, the last one. It has a creamy and soft
texture and bakes well. So it's no surprise that it's
a fantastic melting cheese. Hmm. - Oh, wow. - Oop, oop, we have impasse. I like it. So it's
Brie versus Fontina. - Yeah.
- Okay. - Fontina right now is winning. - Okay.
- Brie is cute. - Okay.
- I do like the presentation. - Well, I'm not gonna
see this presentation in the mac and cheese. Uh-oh, wait, what
happened there? That's the same cheese? - Hmm-mm. - What did this?
(Keyana laughs) What happened? - I think just as I'm
chewing it more, Brie is... - I ain't never seen
nobody change their mind that fast in my life. It was the same bite. - I think I had some
Fontina still in my mouth. Brie is not it. - Girl, take this Fontina and
go on about your business. - Fontina is good. - Take the cheese. You gotta cut it
up. My job is done. - You not gonna help me cut it? - Heck no.
(Keyana laughs) I got to go. I gotta go check on your family. Since you chose to take
my sumptuous cheese. - Yes.
- You have 60 minutes remaining on the clock.
- Okay. - All right? Ready, set, cheese. - Thank you.
(energetic music) All right, so I guess we're
gonna shred this Fontina. - Ooh. She about
to say, come on. - Let me let the
whole world know, see what she doing right
now, is what Keyana does. - That's what she do.
- Eat! - That's what she do.
- In a kitchen. - So now I'm going to
make a cream mixture. I'm gonna put in
about a cup of milk. Two tablespoons of sour cream. - You know what makes it
a little more interesting? I haven't had Mom's
macaroni in a long time. - [Elie] Okay. - So it's like this is
gonna be real unbiased. - [Elie] Exactly. - You know, which one
really tastes better? - And this is like the cream
solution that's going to make everything creamy,
mixed in with the cheese. Then I'm gonna crack in an egg. And the egg is what's gonna
help kind of make everything like a casserole
(eggshell tapping) and just keep
everything together. - Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm. - Now I'm gonna go ahead and
pour this into the noodles. - Girl. They doing a whole bunch for
this macaroni and cheese. She got 10 cheeses, two
milks, a egg, butter. (thoughtful music) She got 10 cheeses, two
milks, a egg, butter. - It's very important that
your food is seasoned. So as you guys seen, I used the chicken
bouillon for the noodles, which the noodles already
are gonna have flavor on it. And then next, I'm
just gonna add in the signature seasonings that
really I use in every meal. I think I am more of a
garlic person than my mom. She traditionally uses garlic, but I think I kind of go a
little overboard with it. I would say this is about
the same amount of seasoning that my mom uses.
- Hmm-mm. - Typically, we'd
just eyeball it and then we taste as we go. So next, I'm gonna
add in the cheese and mix it into the noodle mix. And then we're gonna
go ahead and save some, and then start plating
it into the glass pan. This is definitely the cheesiest macaroni and cheese for sure. - I would have had
a glove on my hand, would've been on there,
turning that noodles and doing, like, no, I ain't
got time for this. Get out the way. Move! - And then it's so funny 'cause Keyana talks about
that all the time. She's like, my
mama get that glove and she put that hand
in their potato salad. - You can feel it. You feel when the
consistency is right. - I think the Fontina
is going to mix in well. I'm hoping it's not gonna
overpower the other cheeses. We're gonna start layering
the cheese into the glass pan. And macaroni and
cheese is such a staple in like the black community. Honestly, this is the
dish of all dishes. Like this is something that
you just don't wanna mess up. So, hoping that I did good. - [Tia] Hey, hey, hey! - Hello.
- How you doing? - I think I'm doing pretty good. - I see a lot of cheese. - Yes. I think we used about
six different cheeses today? - Ooh. Okay.
- Yes. So I see, I do see, actually, is that a chunk
of cheese right there? - Yes.
- Right there? - So this is gonna be the
creamy cheddar cheese. - Okay.
- And once we put it into the oven, it's
gonna melt down and bring all the
cheeses together. - So, and I also noticed
that you don't have like, breadcrumbs on top or
anything like that? - Yes, actually I'm gonna
go ahead and put this in with no foil or anything. - Okay.
- And it's gonna create its own natural crust on top-
- Ooh! - And the bottom is
gonna be really creamy. - Okay. Nice. So speaking of the oven, you only have 40 minutes. And I know it takes-
- Oh my goodness. - 45 minutes to bake this off.
- Yes. Yes. - So we gotta get cracking!
- Yes. We're gonna wanna get this in- - Okay.
- Because we wanna make sure all the cheeses melt properly. - Yes. - Don't want any, you
know, big chunks of cheese- - No.
- Leftover or anything. - We do not want that. You know, secretly,
I want you to win. - Thank you. - So I'm gonna go
ahead and leave. - Okay. - So I'm no longer
disturbing you. - Okay, thank you.
- All right. Let's get that in the oven, like, now!
- When you come back, we should have some
more mac and cheese! Yes. Okay. So I'm just going to
quickly coat the top of this macaroni and cheese
with the remainder of the shredded cheese,
just to make sure everything is covered. And then we're
gonna go ahead and plop this into the
oven for 45 minutes. Definitely wanna make sure
we hurry up and get this in. 'Cause I don't want this
not to end up being creamy. - She left that creamy- - [Itali] I know.
- Cheddar out. - But you know what? That was a lot of work. She did a lot. - She did do a lot.
- And for her... For her? - Okay. Hopefully
that's enough time. (pages flipping) (clock ticking) - Well, you know, this
doesn't really feel like a time constraint. - Yeah.
- Yeah. - Hm.
- You wanna count it down? - Yeah, it's just been baking. Let's just get into it.
- Yeah, all right. - [Terrell and Tia] 3. 2. 1. - Get that thing out the oven. (Tia laughs) Oh, wait a minute now. - [Terrell and Tia] Oh! (Tia gasps) - [Terrell] I don't
mean to sound cheesy. (Tia laughs) But that looks very good. - Thank you.
- It looks good. I betcha this is gonna
have a nice cheese pull. - Yeah.
- Yes! - It has to, all
those cheeses we used. I'm pretty sure. - My mouth is like watering. I think it's time to-
- Yeah. - Start judging, don't you? - I would love to get into it. Now don't forget,
we're going to try your mac and cheese. - Yes. - As well as Mama's
mac and cheese. - Mm-hmm. - All right? It's a competition. - Yes it is. (hands clap)
All right. Let's get to the judging. (pages flipping) (relaxed guitar music) - This is Mom's
macaroni and cheese. - Mom's. I mean, the
presentation is just... - A1.
- Amazing. - I really am enjoying. This looks like down South,
Southern home cooking. - It does. Let's go. - Okay, mom. - So now we're tasting Mom's. - Lord, have mercy. - [Elie] Hmm. Mm. Yours is good. - Hold up now. - Hmm. (fork clinks)
- Oh! (Tia laughs) - It's just one
layer after the next. - It is really good. - This is a layered situation. - You know what I love about it, it's really nice and creamy. Also, there's a nice crunch
to it from the cheese on top. - Yeah.
- Made a really nice crunch. - It need more cheese for me. - Mm-hmm, yes, sir. - It need more cheese
for me. But this is good. - These noodles are
seasoned for the gods. - They are. They're not overcooked at all. - These noodles are amazing. - It's definitely good. It's Mom. I love you Mom. - I'm telling you, with
you one day, gone the next. (upbeat bass music) - It is really good. - This is a layered situation. - It's definitely good. - Keyana's is next.
Let's try Keyana's. But y'all get too hard on
my macaroni and cheese. - All right, so we have
Keyana's in front of us right now, and I'm
gonna have to say. - First impression. - Already, this is
the bomb dot com. - Yeah, it looks like almost
like it could be a pizza. - Well, yeah.
- In a good way. - It actually looks-
- Yeah. - Very like, professional. - Yeah.
- Like a chef did this. Keyana! - Let me find out! - Okay, ready? - It's a little lighter
than how I usually like it. I usually like more of a
yellow cheese on the top. It looks like it's very
cheesy. I see this. You see that creamy
cheddar on the side here? - Mm. - It's coming out.
- Mm. Oh wow. I gotta check mine for leakage. You can hear the crust. (slow playful music) - Ooh.
(fork clatters) - Yo. Mm. - Oh, purr. - Uh-oh. Oh my God. (Terrell laughs) - Oh, Houston, we
have a problem. - We do. Wait a minute. You know what, this
tastes very different. - It's nothing
like the first one. - No, it's not. - This a different experience. - It is. And you know what? It has like a deeper flavor to
it, if that makes any sense. And I think it's from
the Fontina cheese. - Oh, snap. Now. (plate clatters) Now that's some good
macaroni and cheese. - Keyana, Mommy is
very proud of you. I'm 'bouta stick with mine, just because of
the seasoning part! (DJ scoffs) Just because of the
seasoning on the noodles. - And I do think that
Fontaine added something. - [DJ and Itali] Fontina? - Whatever the thing is
called, Fontaine, Fontina. It did add something too.
- Yes, she's a nice girl. Fontina's a nice girl.
- She's a nice girl. She did help Keyana out.
(crew laughing) So we gonna see. - I love that I can
see the seasonings. You see all the
pepper and all this, all the goodness in there? - Oh yeah, yeah I do.
- You see that? I love seeing it. - It's all like together. - [Terrell] Yeah. - As opposed to the
other mac and cheese. It was like more, you
see the macaroni is like, more individualized, if
that makes any sense. - This one is more, I think
that belongs to Fontina. Fontina is responsible for
keeping the whole thing- - [Terrell and Tia] Together. - And it like changed the
dynamic of what you think a traditional mac and
cheese would taste like. It kind of threw me off.
- Yes. Oh yeah. - I was like, oh, surprise. I don't know about this.
- Yeah. - Then I let it
settle into my spirit and I said, I like this. (Tia laughs) - That can't be true. - It had to settle. - Well let's see what
your spirit says. Which one is the
better mac and cheese? - This is gonna be tough. - Mama?
- Yeah. - Or Keyana. - Oof. We'll find out. (pages flipping) (tense music)
- Oh my gosh. I'm so nervous.
- Me too. - All right. Let me remind you, though, okay? There's a couple of
votes happening here. - Okay.
- Tia and I have a vote. - Okay.
- Yes. - Elie and DJ had a vote. - Yes.
- Mm-hmm. - And in the event of a tie,
guess who's breaking it? - [Terrell and Tia] Mama! - Okay. So in that box, we will find out whose mac and cheese
reigns supreme. (hands pattering) It is...
(Tia squeals) - [Tia] Oh my God! - [Terrell and Tia] Keyana! (contestants applauding) - Yeah. Fontina, Fontina,
Fontina did you right. (others affirm) Did your thing! Now I'm gonna tip in here
and say this real quick. Mom, I love the
traditional aspect of your mac and cheese.
- Yes. Yes. - It reminded me of home. I want it on my
Thanksgiving plate. - Yes. - It's just that this one had
a little bit of kick to it. - You know what,
I ain't mad at it. - You know what I'm saying? - How proud are you? - I'm very proud.
- [Tia] Aww. - Because if you knew
my daughter, that
was a lot of work. (others laugh) Y'all couldn't even know,
so to see her go that far. She deserves every, you
deserve it, yes you do. - Thank you. - Congratulations. That was- - Congratulations. Thank
you so much for being here. I mean, both of, you know, the
mac and cheese was fantastic. Thank you guys so much for
watching "Not Like Mama." And we hope to
see you next time. Bye! - Bye!
- Yeah. (laughs) You did the culture
proud. Yes, you did. - Thank you, thank you. (laughs) - I have always thought Keyana can make that macaroni and
cheese in the best way possible. I'm just playing, I'm very
shocked. I am very shocked. - Definitely scared about
the ride home, though. - Right. Now we gotta go back in
the car with your mom. We just got done talking
all that stuff. (laughs) - She about to get her. - Talkin' about it ain't cheese. - She's about to get her. - I don't know, I don't know
how I feel about that part. - I love you, Mom.
